I enjoyed your Jan. 1 edition with your vocabulary expanding “The Courier-Herald’s Top 10 Stories of 2024”, a column devoted to faith and values, and the editorial page that I’m always drawn to which include some cute political cartoons.

Rich Elfers’ “In Focus” column was spot on in explaining why public (aka government) schools are so “cash-strapped”. (I find his views to be interesting, and at times amusing, as when admitted that he was expecting Harris to win the presidential election in a landslide. Oops.)

Regarding the problem in funding government schools lately I’ll give him credit. Elfers made a number of valid points. The one that resonated most profoundly with me was “…due to the polarized nation with its conflicts over sexual identity and harassment, racism, bullying anti-vaxing, and school shootings, many parents have opted to homeschool their children or send them to private schools”.

You nailed it Mr. Elfers. Parents are tired of sending their kids to someplace that might undermine the morals that they have tried to instill in their children. Even when I was in high school in the 1970’s “health classes” were trying to convince us that there were ways you could have sex without worrying about pregnancy or STDs. Is it any surprise that millions of abortions have occurred in the last 50 years? And is it any surprise that parents don’t want their kids to be told that they can change their gender without their parents’ knowledge, let alone consent?

Another point Elfers made was the absurd cost. By July 2024 $18,000 per student was spent, while his article stated that the average teacher pay was $86,604.

The topic of failing school levy’s came up months ago at a Brewskis with a Newsie gathering where I proposed allowing the money to follow the student, allowing low income parents to educate their children in private school or buy supplies for homeschooling, instead of the current inequity of a government school monopoly. A liberal in the group complained that that could be the end of “public education” as we know it. Perhaps it would at least motivate them to get their act together. I’ve always heard that competition, as opposed to monopolies, promotes innovation and excellence. It’s certainly worth a try.

Mark Akers

Enumclaw